Across the NBA, there’s been a Grinch-ish streak among teams playing on Christmas Day. Lakers coach Phil Jackson complained about it, Heat forward LeBron James echoed that complaint, Celtics coach Doc Rivers said he’d rather be with his family, and Magic coach Stan Van Gundy made the league office cringe when he zinged millions of fans by saying, “I actually feel sorry for people who have nothing to do on Christmas Day other than watch an NBA game.”

Fellas, where’s the spirit?

After all, Christmas is annually the NBA’s national coming-out party, and this year’s slate of games is highlighted by what might be the holiday’s most-anticipated matchup of the last five years – the rebuilt Heat against the defending-champ Lakers.

Those with Christmas objections have received their due attention, but it’s not a universal sentiment. The Heat and Lakers were picked by many (including Sporting News) to meet in the Finals next spring, and their first head-to-head outing is getting plenty of buzz. Both teams have had their struggles in the early going – Miami endured a 5-7 string in November, and the Lakers already have eight losses. Getting a win in a much-hyped national game will come with certain satisfaction.

“This is a game that both teams would love to win,” Lakers forward Lamar Odom said. “It’s competition at its highest level. Everybody at home will be watching, your fans, your friends. It’s a fun time and a fun day to play on in front of the world, the big stage here in L.A.”

For the Heat, this represents a chance to show they belong among the elite after starting 1-5 against teams with winning percentages of .700 or better. The Lakers, meanwhile, can knock the Heat – who have won 13 of 14 – down a peg.

And if there’s the impulse to whine about playing while most are opening presents and sipping eggnog, players and coaches should remember this: There are plenty of teams not playing on Christmas because they’re simply not good enough.

“If you play on Christmas Day, that means you are one of the best teams in the league,” Lakers forward Pau Gasol said. “So that’s always a good thing. I have no problem with it.”

Four more NBA holiday treats for your viewing pleasure

The Lakers-Heat game is just one of five the NBA is putting on national TV on Christmas:

Bulls at Knicks (12:00 p.m. ET, ESPN). These two teams lost out on James this summer but still managed to spend their cap space wisely – the Bulls brought in Carlos Boozer, while the Knicks got Raymond Felton and Amare Stoudemire. The Knicks are just two games behind the Bulls in the East standings.

Celtics at Magic (2:30 p.m. ET, ABC). This probably has the most subplots of any Christmas game. The Magic had lost eight of nine before finally beating the Spurs with a revamped lineup that includes Gilbert Arenas, Hedo Turkoglu and Jason Richardson. The Celtics, though, have withstood a spate of injuries to put together a 14-game winning streak.

Nuggets at Thunder (8:00 p.m. ET, ESPN). This game lost some luster because Carmelo Anthony will sit out, eliminating a high-scoring battle with fellow small forward Kevin Durant. But the matchup of point guards – Russell Westbrook and Chauncey Billups, who was Westbrook’s mentor with Team USA this summer – should be a nice one.

Blazers at Warriors (10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN). Warriors guard Monta Ellis has been a scoring machine, fourth in the league at 25.6 points per game. Even if the Warriors fall behind, stay tuned. Ellis pushed them back from a 16-point fourth-quarter deficit in a win over the Kings Wednesday, and in the last meeting of these two teams, Ellis led Golden State back from a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit, but missed a game-winning jumper at the buzzer in a 96-95 loss.